Friday, October 30, 2015

The Overplayed Weekend

Last week I made this ridiculous comment to my husband, “Maybe I’m not as introverted as I used to be.” Ha!

I love people, and sometimes my love of people means I fail at calendaring. So it was that last Friday night we took four fantastic boys ages eight through thirteen to a Boise High School football game. It was tons of fun, and I confess our entire reason for being there was to see the marching band. Yes, the marching band. Twelve-year-old Celestine plays the trumpet in his junior high school band, and we were giving him a peak into his future. I love marching bands. I mean they can play music while marching forwards and backwards and sideways. How is this possible?

The next day started early with our normal church day activities. For us this means two cars. Kevin went one way. I went another, and we met at church with cars overloaded with refugee friends. After church Kevin and I took eight friends to our favorite Indian restaurant for lunch. Only two of those eight friends were older than thirteen. We had the biggest table in the restaurant. We were loud and silly and two year old David told some of his best stories. No one knows what they were about but from his facial expressions and hand gestures, they were definitely action packed. 


During lunch two children spilled water. One child ate so much his stomach hurt. At one point during our meal a woman sitting at the table next to ours caught my eye and said, “You have a lovely family.” I smiled and there was laughter in my eyes as I shared a look with my friend Beatrice (mother of four of the children at the table). She smiled my favorite smile and said, “You have a big family.” It was a moment to treasure, made even better because my own sweet daughter was sitting across from Beatrice and sharing “David duty.”

From that crazy meal we delivered our friends to their homes and went home to rest for two short hours before riding our bikes to Boise State University where we enjoyed the Homecoming Parade and football game with good friends. Go Broncos!

It was a late game and we left the stadium at 11:30 p.m., riding our bikes through silent, misty night air. The moon was glowing through the clouds. I wondered how this could be my life.

Sunday brought more fun, a church scavenger hunt and a birthday party. Kevin and I divided and conquered as he took a carload of children to the scavenger hunt, while I went alone to celebrate eight-year-old Alphonsine’s birthday. I arrived to a room full of Congolese and Rwandan friends. Happy Birthday was sung in three languages. The highlight was a new tradition Alphonsine’s uncle started, in which a giant piece of cake was smashed into Alphosine’s face. It was hilarious.

The weekend was energetic, fun, and filled with friends. I loved it, but I woke late on Monday exhausted. I pretended it was Sunday and accomplished nothing all day. 

It’s good to know who you are. I am an introvert. I love people, but you guys wear me out.

I am so blessed.

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